Chandler Basha 2026 quarterback Brodie Vehrs has committed to Northern Arizona University.
Vehrs had big shoes to fill when he took over as the starter at Basha last season.
Replacing the highest-rated quarterback in Arizona in the 2024 cycle, now Washington sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr., wasn’t poised to be an easy task, but Vehrs made it seem as if it was a walk in the park.
In his first game at command, Vehrs recorded 325 passing yards and five touchdowns in a 39-25 win over Millard South High School in Nebraska.
“I love the underdog story,” Vehrs said. “I like when people overlook me, and I think I've been mostly doubted my whole life, just because, as a quarterback, you don't really see someone my size make it to the level I'm at. So it lights a fire when people doubt me.”
NAU did not overlook the 5-foot-11, 189-pound quarterback. After finishing the season with just over 2,900 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and just two interceptions, Vehrs reported his first Division I offer from NAU on February 11.
Almost three whole months later, Vehrs announced his commitment to play football for the Lumberjacks on Tuesday evening.
“One of the biggest things, obviously, is having a school that believed in me,” Vehrs said. “They're the first school that offered me, and I was gonna have, you know, a busy summer schedule going to these schools that show a lot of interest in me. But I mean, now there's no point, like, I have the school that I want to play at.”
Vehrs becomes the third commitment in the 2026 cycle for the Lumberjacks, the first from Arizona, and is the first player to commit to NAU out of Basha since his former teammate Javery Mayberry did in 2024.
Amongst many of NAU’s accomplishments last season, the Lumberjacks won eight games for the first time since 2013, went undefeated at home and made the FCS Playoffs for the first time since 2017. The team’s trajectory is something Vehrs said stood out to him.
“I mean, you could just see the coaches, it's just energetic, Vehrs said. “At practices, at the games, like, just the environment. It feeds into the players. I mean, they went undefeated, and they have, you know, a lot of recruits coming in.”
“It's just something that I want to be a part of.”
Vehrs said he enjoyed the time NAU’s staff took to build a personal relationship with him, including head coach Brian Wright.
“Whenever we talked, it was, you know, strictly about life and like, he would tell me about how he's working in his backyard on renovations and stuff like that,” Vehrs said. So it was cool, little things like that. Then (Monday), when we talked about the commitment, it just felt right, because they care about you as a person, and that's the biggest thing as a football player.”
“He has so many things he could be doing, and him checking in weekly, just asking me how my days went, or stuff like that, it means a lot.”
Aside from Wright, Vehrs said NAU’s Director of Player Personnel and Recruiting, Tim Roschman, who, before joining NAU’s staff, served as the Director of Recruiting at Millennium and Liberty High School, was at the forefront of his recruitment.
“A lot of coaches and schools don't really know, you know, what Arizona football really has to offer,” Vehrs said. “(Arizona’s) kind of overlooked as a state, and I think having an Arizona guy recruit Arizona is the biggest thing because he realizes how much potential there is in the state… and (NAU) got that with me, and I couldn't be more happy just because they gave me a shot.”
Vehrs said he plans to graduate early after his senior season in December and go up to Flagstaff for spring camp, and is looking forward to reuniting with friends he grew up playing with, including Chandler High School alum and NAU freshman linebacker Aidan Browder.
“I think I just want to contribute to getting better, and hopefully, you know, go up there and help them win a couple big games,” Vehrs said.
